“It goes without saying that men are aggressive. But that’s exactly the problem, according to psychologists. They asked men and women to imagine various conflict scenarios and found that men systematically overestimate the prevalence and social approval of aggression, even while having mixed feelings about it themselves.” Read more . . .

“Remember the global financial crisis? How about the H1N1 flu virus? Al-Qaida? Climate change? Each of these headline-grabbing issues poses a threat to our well-being, but the way we perceive these dangers might depend on how recently we read about them, a study from the University of Colorado suggests.” Read more . . .

“People who squirm at the sight of bugs or are grossed out by blood and guts are more likely to be politically conservative, new studies find. In particular, the squeamish are more apt to have conservative attitudes about gays and lesbians. Lots of other research has tied politics to biology and behavior.” Read more . . .

“Pus, maggots, vomit, feces, rotten food: in almost every human society, people share a knee-jerk revulsion for certain substances. Now, Yale psychologist Paul Bloom and his colleagues have found that the level of disgust a person feels can predict his or her political orientation. In a word: “We found that conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals.” Read more . . .